


Flutter

by rainydayadvocate



Category: Aquaman (2018), DC Extended Universe
Genre: Cupcakes, F/M, Fluff, Snow Day, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 06:10:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17761295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainydayadvocate/pseuds/rainydayadvocate
Summary: Arthur and Mera return to Maine at the request of his mother for a Valentine's day meal. Mera finds the holiday ridiculous, but doesn't mind this particular land-side visit when she realizes Arthur planned something special for her.





	Flutter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ljparis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ljparis/gifts).



> I couldn't resist Mera seeing snow for the first time. Enjoy!

As Arthur and Mera climbed onto the dock by the lighthouse, Mera smoothed her hair off her face. She idly twisted it into ringlets as they walked up the dock. “Explain to me why we’re here again.”

Arthur walked uncomfortably in his suit landside. Mera didn’t really understand; their suits were still sleek, flexible, and practically a second skin whether in or out of water. But that didn’t stop Arthur from walking like he’d spent all day on a seahorse. “It’s called Valentine’s Day. Normally I’m not into these things, but my mother insisted we come.”

They stopped in the lighthouse before continuing to Tom and Atlanna’s home. Arthur kept clothes there so he wasn’t seen by a passing stranger in his suit. Again, Mera didn’t really see the point. Since taking the trident, he really couldn’t hide his kingly presence, no matter how much he wanted to sometimes. Once out of the suit and into a bulky jacket and baggy jeans, his shoulders relaxed. How that amount of clothing could be preferable, Mera would never understand. “I still don’t think I understand what Valentine’s Day is,” she said as they walked back down the steps from the lighthouse.

“Mostly it’s an excuse to buy cards and spend money on stupidly shaped treats and expensive dinners. Beneath its capitalist exterior, it’s a day to show love for those important in your life.”

Mera laughed and shook her head. The sun was already working its magic on her curls, letting them rest softly against her back. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Why would you need a _day_ to do all those things? Shouldn’t you be doing that every day?”

Arthur stopped in the doorway of the house and leaned in for a quick kiss. The touch of his lips was always different above water; Mera liked the rough dryness of his lips, the more forceful press without the water’s buoyancy. She almost, _almost_ , preferred landside kisses. But she would never tell him that. “I didn’t say this holiday made any sense. I only said my mother requested our presence for it.”

He opened the door and they were met by a cacophony of smells. The first scent was sweet, floral, and smelled almost good enough to eat. The second smell, a mixture of vegetables and charred smokiness, was unfortunately probably dinner.

Atlanna swept out of the kitchen in jeans, a plaid shirt, an apron that read “I kiss the real cook,” and her hair in a messy french braid. She stretched out her arms in greeting, pulling them both into a warm hug. “I was really afraid Arthur would back out on me.”

“I almost did.” He kissed her cheek. “Hi, Mom.”

“I’m so glad you didn’t. Your father is just finishing out on the deck,” Atlanna said, turning her attention to Mera as Arthur walked outside. “Oh, Mera, you must get into something more comfortable. Why haven’t you changed yet?”

Apparently even an Atlantean queen can lose touch with what is comfortable and what isn’t. But Mera was raised to never disobey her queen. Thus, she found herself staring at a closet of clothes half a minute later. “Your majesty, are you cooking?”

“I am attempting to, yes. I’m making slow progress. I wasn’t very good at it when Arthur was a boy, either.” She selected a green blouse, flowy with sheer sleeves, and passed it to Mera. A pair of skinny jeans followed. “I think you’ll find the dessert is to your liking, at least. I promise nothing with the meal.” She laughed, a genuine sound Mera had never heard from her before, and swept out of the room so she could change in privacy.

***

Dinner was, in fact, quite terrible. Tom had called it ratatouille and though Arthur explained the land-dwelling rodent was not part of the dish, Mera found it difficult to believe the dish was si pungent while only filled with vegetables.

Tom and Atlanna had moved inside to clean up, leaving Mera and Arthur on the back deck. Heaters glowed in each corner, making their square of Maine in February warm enough to enjoy the quiet evening. Cut out hearts streamed between two of the heaters while twinkling white lights twined through the deck’s railing. “Your mother grew soft during those years in exile.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled. “Do you find the childlike decorations offensive, your highness?”

“A little,” Mera admitted in a low voice, but she smiled. “I suppose I can put up with it. And this atrocious food.”

“You haven’t tried a dessert yet, clearly. It won’t offend you, I guarantee it.” Arthur reached for the plate of what Mera had been informed were cupcakes. She picked one up off the tray and examined it.

Before she could take a bit, Arthur reached over and pulled red and pink hearts off the bottom of it. “They have paper wrapping. I didn’t want you to eat it accidentally.”

“I wouldn’t have,” she said, though admittedly, she probably would’ve bitten into it first.

Mera took a bite of the cupcake and enjoyed the soft chewiness of the texture, the splash of flavor from the topping. It tasted of spring somehow, and engulfed her nostalgia in a way food never had before. After a couple more delectable bites, she looked over at him. “This tastes familiar, though I know I’ve never eaten cake.”

Arthur’s smile morphed into a knowing smirk and he scooted closer to her. “They’re rose water and vanilla.”

“Rose water? You mean roses are actually eaten?”

“Not typically in the apple-like fashion you enjoyed them, but yes, usually in sweets like this.” Something about that, realizing that Arthur had probably made the request to his parents on her behalf, made her enjoy the cupcakes that much more.

As she finished her second rose water and vanilla treat, Mera stood and leaned on the deck railing, looking out on the crisp, frosty landscape. A couple of cars wound up the coastal road as she watched. Arthur joined her, eating his own cupcake. His closeness created more warmth than the space heaters.

The skies had darkened while they ate, storm clouds lazily swirling along the coastline. As she watched the storm slide inland, white tufts started to fall, their path to the ground slow and meandering. One landed on her hand. A momentary flash of cold immediately turned to water droplets. “Arthur, is this—snow?”

“What? Yeah. Haven’t you seen it before?”

Mera shook her head. “Our part of the Atlantic is warm, so it only rains. Of course I know what it is, I just—I’ve never been on the surface to see it.” She reached out her hand, palm side up, to let the snowflakes catch in her hand and melt. “It’s so much more quiet than rain.”

“Usually, unless it’s a blizzard.” Arthur turned to watch her before nodding out onto the back lawn. “Get out there, enjoy it. Does your hydrokinesis work on snow?”

“I don’t know.” She walked down the deck stairs and stood in the middle of the lawn, already dusted white. Even her footprints disappeared quickly.

She closed her eyes and focused on the snow, trying to feel it like she could the sea, or even a rainstorm. While she could sense it, the snow felt distant, muted. Frozen and unmovable. She focused in her mind on a whirlpool, a simple formation to create in water. She imagined the snowflakes whipping around her, enclosing her in white, forming a delicate heavenward cone of beautiful ice crystal formations.

But when she opened her eyes, that wasn’t what she saw. Snow that landed on her skin and melted whisked off her skin and circled her, but the snow itself didn’t seem to obey. It fluttered, as if considering the idea of obeying her, and then fell to the grass like it wanted.

Arthur grinned. “We can’t all be Elsa.”

“Who?”

“Elsa. She’s—you know what, never mind.” He stepped down to join her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Just enjoy it.”

Mera leaned back into him, watched the snowflakes fall around them and coat the house in a quiet blanket of white. A large flake that fell against one of her curls didn’t melt, allowing her to enjoy its inner beauty. “So this is Valentine’s Day,” she said quietly.

Arthur pressed a kiss to her temple and swayed them a little. “This is Valentine’s Day.”

“It’s not too bad.”

“You have a small sample size. This is better than most.”

“Then I guess I had better enjoy it.” WIth that, Mera leaned up to kiss him.


End file.
